


1 Year Later...

by Guardian_Rose



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff, Kissing, On the side - Freeform, Post-Canon, This is nearly a make out but im sorry my tired brain could not follow through yet, lil angst as a treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:35:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24291421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Guardian_Rose/pseuds/Guardian_Rose
Summary: “Hurry up! I want to get this damned flight over with!” Catra hollers from the ramp of their ship.Adora just rolls her eyes fondly from across the hangar where she is saying goodbye to Bow and Glimmer. She holds a finger up behind her back. The resounding laugh is proof enough that her message was received.“Are you sure you have everything? Emergency rations? Blankets?” Glimmer asks.“I’m sure; don’t worry! We’ll be fine, back before you’ve even had time to miss us,” Adora reassures the two of them with a grin.“Oh we miss you already,” Bow says, pulling her into a tight hug. “You know how to use the pads and how to set the ship to autopilot and--”“Yes, Bow!” Adora cuts in with a laugh, she gives him a squeeze before pulling back, Glimmer takes his place. “We’ll be fine. Anyway, you can’t tell me the two of you aren’t looking forward to having some time to yourselves.”***1 year later and its about time they had some time just the two of them for their anniversary.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 160





	1 Year Later...

“Hurry up! I want to get this damned flight over with!” Catra hollers from the ramp of their ship. 

Adora just rolls her eyes fondly from across the hangar where she is saying goodbye to Bow and Glimmer. She holds a finger up behind her back. The resounding laugh is proof enough that her message was received. 

“Are you sure you have everything? Emergency rations? Blankets?” Glimmer asks. 

“I’m sure; don’t worry! We’ll be fine, back before you’ve even had time to miss us,” Adora reassures the two of them with a grin. 

“Oh we miss you already,” Bow says, pulling her into a tight hug. “You know how to use the pads and how to set the ship to autopilot and--”

“Yes, Bow!” Adora cuts in with a laugh, she gives him a squeeze before pulling back, Glimmer takes his place. “We’ll be fine. Anyway, you can’t tell me the two of you aren’t looking forward to having some time to yourselves.”

Glimmer shrugs, an act somewhat muffled by how she’s currently wrapped her arms round Adora. She steps back and clears her throat, the picture of royalty. Even in their casual, ‘we’re going to spend the entire day inside the castle so who cares who sees us’ outfits. Adora, on the other hand, is in trousers and her old jacket, unbuttoned over a shirt she’d stolen from Catra when they were packing the night before. 

“See you guys in a week,” Adora says.

The three of them have one last hug and then she’s waving until she’s in the belly of the ship and can’t see them anymore. The ramp starts closing with a gentle hiss and Adora makes her way to the command deck of the ship. Catra is lounging in the captain’s chair, feet thrown over one of the arms, tail swatting at the hologram screens showing their pre-plotted course. She tips her head up in greeting, watching through the window as they take off. Adora kisses her forehead before pushing Catra’s feet out the way so she can sit on the arm of the chair. Catra huffs but sits up, only to lean her head against Adora’s hip. 

“How long did Bow say it would take us to get there?” Catra asks, swiping her tail away with a quiet hiss when Adora runs her fingers up to the tip. “Stop that.”

“Couple hours. Not long enough to sleep, he said.” 

Catra hums. “Sure we can think of something to do with the time.”

Adora runs a hand through her hair, loose. The ponytail had become...well, it had become more of a she-ra thing than an Adora thing. So she’d let her hair grow out and wore it loose more often than not nowadays. 

“I do have an idea,” she says slyly. Catra smirks. 

***

“This is not what I meant.”

“I know,” Adora says with a grin.

Catra tugs at one of the strands she’s collected together to make a point but continues braiding Adora’s hair anyway. The stars pass by slowly outside. There’s them and the hum of the ship and that’s it. The computer’s navigation system doing the hard work for them as they  _ slightly _ abuse the captain’s chair. Catra wraps the black hairband she keeps on her wrist for exactly this purpose round the end of the plait and pats Adora once, intentionally condescending, on the head. 

“All done.”

Adora twists round and up onto her knees, she presses a kiss to Catra’s lips. “Thanks, babe.”

***

The planet they’re heading to is a small one, just a few villages here and there. One large ocean that meanders around and occasionally through the wooded mainlands. It had been one of the first planets they’d visited as a group, helping out where they can with rebuilding efforts. They hadn’t yet figured out what they reasonably could and couldn’t do to help, nor how much time they could spend before they had to return home. None of them had wanted to seem rude and refuse when one of the village’s had come together and presented them with a full on  _ house _ . A cottage, they’d called it. So they’d accepted it because what else could you do when a whole community built you a freaking  _ house _ , with a promise to come back and visit when they could.

So here they were, a year on from the near ending of the universe, in the same ship (albeit heavily modified by Bow, Entrapta and Hordak) from all that time ago. Together still, off to celebrate their anniversary in peace. Catra and Adora against the world. 

***

It’s not until the ship is docking, rocking about a bit as it enters the atmosphere that they realise they’ve arrived. Adora sits up, still straddling Catra’s waist. Catra tries to tug her back down into what had been a wonderfully pleasant kiss but Adora has other plans. 

They make their way to the large windows. It looks just the same as it had before. Green, lush, meadows and forests, rivers and lakes. The occasional mountain range far, far off in the distance. Adora brushes their hands together, Catra links their fingers. They smile softly at each other, both blushing at their own selves.

Nobody welcomes them when they disembark. A little odd, the village is only a short walk from the meadow they’ve landed in and the people living there had rushed out immediately last time. But, it’s not like they’d been relying on it. In fact, Catra looks rather relieved at not having to be surrounded by so many people, so much gratitude. Adora shrugs and accepts it. 

She starts to feel a creeping sense of dread as they approach the village and still there’s no sign of life. There’s no shrieks and whoops of children playing. No chatter carrying on the wind. Catra seems to have noticed it as well, if the frizz of her tail is anything to go by. Adora reaches for her hand again, suspicions confirmed when Catra hastily retracts her claws. 

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. I...You feel it too?”

Catra hesitates, looking behind them, visibly uncomfortable being out in the open. “Something’s wrong.”

“Yeah. That’s not what I was hoping you’d say.”

“What you were thinking though.”

Adora nods. “Yeah...”

The village is empty. They split up to take either side of the main road, keeping within each other’s sight as they peer through windows and doors, down between houses. Nothing.

“It’s like they just...disappeared,” Adora says, “there’s literal food still hot on the table in this one.”

“Maybe they just moved out?”

“And left all their shit behind? I don’t know, Catra…”

They reach the end of the street, the meadow they’d just trekked up sloping down before them. The ship standing sentry. The three suns setting at different angles.

“Something’s not right,” Adora says again, almost to herself.

“Let me guess, we’re going to go looking for them?”

“Well, we can’t really not, Catra,” Adora says shooting her a look; Catra grins back, snarky. 

“So much for our anniversary plans, huh. And I had that whole evening prepped.”

Adora shoves her playfully, blushing a little herself. “We can still do that! And don’t think I don’t know that it was Wrong Hordak who baked all those sweet cakes, not you.”

Catra frowns and pushes back. “Like how Sea Hawk’s the one who got that wine you’re so proud of?”

***

They make an executive decision to go back to the ship to sleep, the cottage can wait. If whatever had happened to the village were to happen to them too in the dark then they’d be better off in the armoured ship. Catra persuades Adora to pry open one of the bottles of pink wine and eventually, with enough alcohol in her system and enough affectionate hints from Catra, Adora lets herself be distracted from the mystery of the village. They’d seen no sign of foul play, after all. They were probably all fine. Knowing their luck, the two of them would race in expecting trouble to find they’d all been swept up in some cross-country parade or something. 

So she sips at her third glass of wine, warm and buzzing. Sitting propped up against the wall of the kitchen they’ve sequestered themselves in. Boxes of snacks cracked open and picked out of. Catra sits, legs primly crossed, on the edge of the counter, her shirt has somehow become even less unbuttoned than before. Her tail swings lazily from side to side as she drinks the last of the dregs straight from the bottle. She catches Adora watching when she puts the bottle down then winks. Adora just grins happily up at her. She empties her glass and sets it on the floor. 

Adora holds a hand out to Catra who quirks an eyebrow, her ponytail swishing behind her as she hops down with a quiet click of her claws. She takes Adora’s hand, let’s Adora steady her with a hand on her waist as she lowers herself into Adora’s lap. They’re both smiling dopily at each other, soft and comfortable. Catra’s the one who leans in first, humming contentedly against Adora’s soft lips as Adora draws her thumb along Catra’s cheekbone and down to trace the tuft of fluff down to her jaw. 

Tomorrow they will go in search of answers. Tomorrow they will wake up and put aside their wants in favour of what is right.

Tonight there is no higher moral calling. Tonight there is Adora’s hands in Catra’s hair, freeing it from its bindings. Tonight there is Catra’s hands sliding up under Adora’s jacket and shirt, claws teasing at the small of her back and along the ridges of her spine as she bows up further into Catra’s space. Chasing each other’s lips. Laughter bubbling up light and free as they bump into walls and random boxes and doorways on their way to their room, trying to keep touching and kissing and  _ being _ . Tonight there is them and their past and their future all wrapped up in their present. An anniversary for tonight even if they have to put the rest of their week aside. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! <3
> 
> No beta, all mistakes my own
> 
> Prompts welcome here and on my writing tumblr [WordToTheRose ](https://wordtotherose.tumblr.com/) or come say hi on my main [Guardian-Rose-Petal](https://guardian-rose-petal.tumblr.com/)


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